Kevin's Watch

This year's Pulitizer Prize for fiction has been given to March by Geraldine Brooks. The plot of this book, as I've been told, is the life of Mr. March, father of Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg, before the events in Little Women. Sounds like the plot of many fanfics that have as their plot, Kirk's life at Star Fleet Academy, Mulder's FBI career before gettin the Xfiles, Giles before becoming a Buffy's watcher.

Walks like, looks like, quacks like. It might be.

The difference between fanfic and fiction is that fiction writers get published by legitimate operations, while fanfic writers struggle to not get sued. The minute something goes to press, you don't have to call it fanfic anymore. Brooks is just luckier than the rest of us.

but look at Danielle Steele or Jackie Collins. i have read fanfic much better than those two.

Sgtnull LOL ROF. I've read numerical tables and grocery lists that were better written.

My sister-in-law believes that she would buy and read Dean Koontz's laundry list, as long as he published it. No accounting for good taste.... but then again, what has happened to my life that I read more cereal boxes than books now?

And what a waste---those mazes and games are so easy - the trivia questions are really easy, too! I keep writing the companies to complain, but they never answer...

[and great merciful crap! Do you know how little actual cereal is in cereal nowadays?! Is there really no middle ground to be had between "Frosted Sugar Lumps" and "Pinecone Colon-scour Crunch"?]

DW

what ever happened to the toy prizes? a decoder ring, or a spinning top?

Alynna Lis Eachann wrote:

The difference between fanfic and fiction is that fiction writers get published by legitimate operations, while fanfic writers struggle to not get sued. The minute something goes to press, you don't have to call it fanfic anymore. Brooks is just luckier than the rest of us.

I don't remember the exact date, but I think any book that was copyrighted before (1920 or 1930??) is in the public domain and up for grabs. So someone like Brooks can write a fanficish book without the threat of a lawsuit.

If it was but so simple as to have a cutoff date. For example, according to a lawyer I talked to about 2 yrs ago, most of Edgar Rice Burroughs work is still covered and protected by copyright and I'm sure some of it was written before 1920. FWIW, the same lawyer told me that Burroughs's literary executors are strong lobbyists for all the recent extensions of copyright.

Part of my point from my original message is independent of the copyright protections that may exist to protect Little women. That as an literary text March exists in the same place as most fanfiction, and the text was created without the author's permission a further similarity to fanfiction.

taraswizard wrote:If it was but so simple as to have a cutoff date. For example, according to a lawyer I talked to about 2 yrs ago, most of Edgar Rice Burroughs work is still covered and protected by copyright and I'm sure some of it was written before 1920. FWIW, the same lawyer told me that Burroughs's literary executors are strong lobbyists for all the recent extensions of copyright.

Yeah, copyright law is pretty dense and without a doubt beyond my scope of understanding. I'm not sure why I remember the cutoff date thing (misinformation perhaps? too much googling gone awry?) but I know literary copyright dates have been progressively extended in the U.S. over the past 75 years or so.

Part of my point from my original message is independent of the copyright protections that may exist to protect Little women. That as an literary text March exists in the same place as most fanfiction, and the text was created without the author's permission a further similarity to fanfiction.

You're right, the copyright point is moot anyway. March is a fanfic and it did win the pulitzer. Which is obviously quite an achievement. And Alcott certainly did not give Brooks permission to write the book

Hal Duncan just posted a rant on his blog about the merits of fanfiction, and it touches a little on the differences between fanfic and other reuses of other people's material. Link. I find he makes an interesting point on the copy vs critique vs homage side.